It is a sad day for Indian sports that the Sports Development Bill moved by the sports minister Lalit Maken was unanimously rejected by all the politicians who are heading one sports federation or another. The Bill mandates an age limit for persons holding office i.e. 70 years and tenure limit as well i.e. they are not allowed to hold office for more than 12 years. There is also a provision in the bill for reserving some spots in the federations for players, rather than bureacrats or politicians. This was seen by the politicians who have been holding onto their posts for decades together without doing anything for the benefit of sports in the country as attacking their fiefdom and therefore they unanimously reaching across party lines decided to dump this bill. Sad day indeed because this was a well meaning bill brought out by a well meaning sports ministry. The media unfortunately got into this as a BCCI vs sports ministry spat with the bill ostensibly trying to step into the shoes of BCCI big wigs. Let's wait and watch whether there is life still in the bill or it has been buried forever. What is the use of young politicians in the Parliament if they are unable to step in and talk in favour of the bill or for sportspersons themselves.
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